GOD GIVES SUCCESS IN FIGHTING SATAN

James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Someone has quipped that temptations are like stray cats: if you treat one nice, it’ll be back shortly with a whole bunch of its friends. There’s a lot of truth in that old joke. The more we yield to sin, the more enticements to sin we seem to encounter.

But the opposite is also true. The more firmly and consistently we resist temptation, the stronger our resolve becomes. Sin becomes less attractive. Holiness becomes more desirable.

It’s worth noting that when Jesus bluntly rejected Satan’s overtures in the wilderness (see Luke 4:1-13), the devil departed in a huff. He didn’t leave for good, and he didn’t give up his diabolical fight. But Satan did get a small taste of his ultimate defeat and humiliation, which is the same thing he gets whenever we tell him to take a hike (see Romans 16:20). 

GOD’S PROMISE TO ME:

• If you firmly resist Satan, he will flee from you.

MY PRAYER TO GOD:

O God, my enemy is strong and sinister. But you are stronger. Give me the grace to recognize the attacks of the enemy and the strength to spurn his sinful offers. Amen.